CBC.ca | The Current | "China Spies" (including interview with me)

China Spies

"The buzz among the security-savy is that China's state News Agency, Xinhua is routinely used to gather intelligence and that China itself is ravenous for global intelligence on the political, military and industrial front. That is why so many questions linger in the exchange of emails and apparent friendship between MP Bob Dechert, a parliamentary secretary in the foreign affairs dept and a woman posted here in Canada by Xinhua. Today we ask about the vulnerability of our officials and the history of female spies: Infiltration through Flirtation."

http://www.cbc.ca/thecurrent/episode/2011/09/14/china-spies/

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Bill Schiller: Chinese security spies often placed in newsrooms around the world blog

"Typically, the aspiring correspondents attended the University of International Relations in Beijing or another similar university in Nanjing, "where they learned to master a foreign language and how to do intelligence work," the journalist said.

They would then work abroad for a set number of years, "and then disappear," he said. "You wouldn't see them again."

How many agents the State Security Ministry actually appoints depends on the rank and importance of the media outlet. There are several major media outlets that maintain correspondents abroad.

"With a powerful, high ranking media outlet, the Ministry of State Security might say, 'You have 20 positions? Maybe we can send five.' ""

http://www.thestar.com/mobile/news/world/article/1053288--chinese-security-spies-often-placed-in-newsrooms-around-the-world

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Ottawa Citizen urges Bob Dechert to resign as Parliamentary Secretary

Ottawa Citizen editorial urges Bob Dechert to resign as Parliamentary Secretary:

http://bit.ly/qraG7j

Memo to Bob Dechert

This is a very insightful Op-Ed by Michael Cole on how Chinese espionage in Canada works:

http://www.ottawacitizen.com/mobile/iphone/story.html?id=5390768

Tory MP apologizes for 'flirtatious' e-mails to Chinese reporter - The Globe and Mail

@acoyne: Of all the people he could have a year-long "flirtation" with, he picks a bureau chief for the Chinese state news agency? #shimail

From The Globe and Mail:

Tory MP apologizes for 'flirtatious' e-mails to Chinese reporter

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/ottawa-notebook/tory-mp-apologizes-for-flirtatious-e-mails-to-chinese-reporter/article2160043/

Via The Globe and Mail news app for BlackBerry

Feature on Allen Chan in National Post this a.m. quite revealing on PRC connection

National Post this morning has a feature on the founder of Sino-Forest, Allen Chan:

"His deep-rooted China connections have been vital to his forestry businesses on the mainland. A member of a top advisory committee to China's parliament for heavily forested Jiangxi province, he's also a vice-president of the China National Forestry Industry Federation."

http://www.financialpost.com/todays-paper/Allen+Chan/5325432/story.html

Article in SCMP on Serious CrIsis between PRC and Vatican

Conflict between PRC and Vatican reaching crisis point:
http://bit.ly/o3NnsK

U.S. ambassador in wikileaked cable reported Canadian diplomatic trips to China accomplished little

In the latest tranche of Wikileaks of US diplomatic cables there is one from the US Embassy in Ottawa commenting on the lack of "deliverables" from visits to China in 2007 by David Emerson and Jim Flaherty. This cable was reported in the Globe and Mail on Thursday in Mark MacKinnon's report "Canadian diplomatic trips to China accomplished little, U.S. ambassador says" (http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/canadian-diplomatic-trips-to-china-accomplished-little-us-ambassador-says/article2139940/). The original cable can be read at http://wikileaks.org/cable/2007/02/07OTTAWA213.html 

My judgement is that the issues with regard to senior-level Canadian officials visits to China raised in the US cable remain unchanged 4 years on.

Thinking about it, it this really indicates how one-sided the Canada-China relationship has become over the last 20 years. On these visits our senior cabinet ministers play the role of enhancing the prestige of CCP leaders by appearing on the Chinese news sitting on over stuffed chairs depicted as listening supplicantly to yet another stupefyingly wordy "comprehensive briefing" by a Chinese leader. Our diplomats in China struggle to come up with go-through-the-motions hollow announcements for the visiting minister to complement the courtesy calls and tours and banquets these things devolve in to.

On the other hand, over this time, China has made so many inroads into Canada that serve the interests of the Communist Party's regime very well. But Canada gets no progress on substance such as fairer access to the Chinese market, human rights concerns or concerns about Chinese espionage in Canada in return. Canada is floundering in China due to our lack of expertise and resources there.

And this suits the Chinese Communist Government just fine.

John Baird's Interview with Xinhua News Agency

John Baird's Interview with Xinhua News Agency

"Canada links future with China"
By : Xinhua|Updated: 2011-08-15

http://en.​kunming.cn​/index/con​tent/2011-​08/15/cont​ent_262861​3.htm

"Recognizing that strong economic and trade complementarity exists
between Canada and China, both countries agree that practical
cooperation should be enhanced to promote increased bilateral trade
and investment, and create new science and technology partnerships
that will lead to jobs, prosperity and economic opportunities for
Canadians and Chinese alike, he said.
"Measures taken include the launch of an economic complementarity
study, the negotiation of a Foreign Investment Promotion and
Protection Agreement (FIPA) and the establishment of joint working
groups on cleantech, infrastructure, and energy under the Joint
Economic and Trade Committee and Strategic Working Group," he said,
"We hope that these measures will far exceed all of our expectations
for bilateral trade between our countries."
People-to-people ties
Baird attached great importance to people-to-people ties."

New Canadian Sanctions on DPRK

New Canadian Sanctions on DPRK: http://www​.internati​onal.gc.ca
/sanctions​/korea-cor​ee.aspx?la​ng=eng&men​u_id=15&vi​ew=d
and statement by Minister of Foreign Affairs: http://www​.internati
onal.gc.ca​/media/aff​/news-comm​uniques/20​11/231.asp​x

China may be worst protectionist ever: U.S. analyst

Bergsten estimated the China's renminbi, also known as the yuan, is currently undervalued by at least 20 percent against the U.S. dollar as a result of China's currency intervention.

That "is the equivalent of a subsidy of 20 percent on all China's exports and an additional tariff of 20 percent on all China's imports," Bergsten said.

http://old.news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110812/bs_nm/us_usa_china_currency/print

加拿大大使馆官方微博

Micro-blog of Embassy of Canada to China can be found at: 

http://weibo.com/canadaweibo

The Honourable Mr. Justice Shore "Reasons for Order and Order" on Lai Changxing Matter

The Honourable Mr. Justice Shore "Reasons for Order and Order" on Lai Changxing Matter is very much worth the read.

http://decisions.fct-cf.gc.ca/en/2011/2011fc915/2011fc915.html

Are Chinese Spies in Canada Getting an Easy Ride?

"Are Chinese Spies Getting An Easy Ride?"   While the US has prosecuted dozens of alleged spies in recent years, Canada can't or won't—nab a single spook. 

http://www.embassymag.ca/page/view/spies-07-27-2011#

My Op-Ed on Lai Changxing matter in Monday`s Globe and Mail

"Farewell, Mr. Lai!"

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/opinions/opinion/farewell-mr-lai/article2106998/

See also: Postmedia news report by Jeff Davis "Canada not pressured into extraditing Chinese fugitive: Baird"  http://tinyurl.com/3lrc3ad

The Chinese TV news covered Mr. Lai's return live from Beijing Airport.  There has been literally hours of reporting and commentary on it.  The level of interest in the Lai matter in China is much higher than I had previously imagined.

Almost Certain Lai Changxing Will Be Returned to China Possibily as Soon as Saturday

When asked earlier in the day if his client had any legal options left if the Federal Court ruled against him, lawyer David Matas simply told The Globe and Mail: "No."

"Federal court rules against Lai Changxing"

http://tinyurl.com/3clguta

Poll: Does Canada have a moral duty to pressure China to improve its human rights record?

Poll: Does Canada have a moral duty to pressure China to improve its
human rights record?

http://polldaddy.com/poll/5244783/#

Visiting a Buddhist Temple in Yunnan

Visited the Wenfeng Temple in Lijiang County a few days ago.  It features several photos of Karmapa (Ogyen Trinley Dorje ཨོ་རྒྱན་འཕྲིན་ལས་རྡོ་རྗེ།) including a very large one outside the main gate.  The temple was pretty much devoid of visitors, very peaceful and beautiful and in quite good repair.  The monks seemed delighted to meet my son, Geoffrey and his 4 year-old girl cousin and took turns holding them very tenderly.  The younger monks are enthusiastic basketball players.  I managed to make it up to the top of the mountain where there is a meditation hall, a sacred cave with spring, the cells where the nuns live and a spectacular view including of a golf course in the valley below.

It was an afternoon that will always rest in my memory.

Embassy Mag Reports My Views on Way Forward for Canada's Engagement with China on Human Rights

"Charles Burton, associate professor of political science at Brock
University who is a former diplomat in Beijing and has written books
on the Middle Kingdom, says the key to moving forward might be for Mr.
Baird to become familiar with the changing situation in China. At that
point, he may adjust Canada's foreign policy to become engaged in
trying to support the agents of change in the country-as opposed to
trying to convince the Chinese Communist Party leadership that
democracy and human rights are simply a good thing. This will involve
more of what Mr. Baird referred to as "people-to-people" ties, rather
than government-to-government."

"China strategy needed to confront human rights":
http://embassymag.ca/page/view/chinastrategy-07-20-2011

Canada's Integrated and Balanced China Policy

The Globe and Mail has published an article on the intentions of Canada's Minister of Foreign Affairs's engagement with the Government of China this week.  It reports as follows:

"It's critical for our success going forward as a country, economically, to engage with one of the world's most important and fastest growing economies," said a senior government official on Sunday. "That can't be understated. But it's not at the expense of Canadian values and principles."

The federal official said Canada is looking to strengthen commercial, educational and technological ties with China, and that as part of these discussions, Canada will continue to press China to "implement and adhere to internationally recognized human-rights practices."

"Baird aims to balance trade, human rights issues on China trip"

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/baird-aims-to-balance-trade-human-rights-issues-on-china-trip/article2100120/